CFA Institute APIcfainstitute.org ↗
Access structured CFA Program curriculum data for Levels I, II, and III — topics, modules, Learning Outcome Statements, and exam weights via 3 endpoints.
What is the CFA Institute API?
The CFA Institute curriculum API exposes structured exam content across all three CFA Program levels through 3 endpoints, returning topics, learning modules, Learning Outcome Statements (LOS), and exam weight ranges. The get_curriculum endpoint delivers the full hierarchy for a given level and year, including every LOS with its action verb, while search_los lets you run keyword queries across one or all levels to find specific learning objectives.
curl -X GET 'https://api.parse.bot/scraper/cc5cbe41-2541-4331-b45a-83b407066316/get_curriculum?year=2025&level=I' \ -H 'X-API-Key: $PARSE_API_KEY'
Typed, relational, agent-ready
A generated client with real types, enums, and the links between objects — the structure a flat JSON response can't carry. Autocompletes in your editor and reads cleanly to coding agents.
- Fully typed · autocompletes
- Objects link to objects
- Typed errors & pagination
Typed Python client. Set up the SDK in your uv project, then pull this API’s typed client:
uv add parse-sdk uv run parse init uv run parse add --marketplace cfainstitute-org-api
uv run parse add --marketplace pulls a pinned snapshot of this canonical API — it won’t change underneath you. To customize it, subscribe and swap to your own copy.
from parse_apis.cfa_curriculum_api import CFACurriculum, Level, Year
cfa = CFACurriculum()
# Fetch the full Level I curriculum for 2026
curriculum = cfa.curriculums.get(level=Level.I, year=Year.Y2026)
print(curriculum.level, curriculum.year, curriculum.total_topics, curriculum.total_los)
# Browse topics and their modules
for topic in curriculum.topics:
print(topic.topic_name, topic.module_count, topic.pathway)
for module in topic.modules:
print(module.module_name, module.los_count)
# Get lightweight topic overviews with exam weights
for overview in curriculum.topic_overviews.list():
print(overview.topic_name, overview.exam_weight, overview.session)
# Search LOS within this curriculum level
for match in curriculum.los_matches.search(query="risk"):
print(match.topic, match.module, match.los, match.action_verb)
Get the full CFA curriculum for a specific level, including all topics, modules within each topic, and every Learning Outcome Statement (LOS). Each LOS starts with an action verb (explain, describe, calculate, etc.). Level III includes three pathways: Portfolio Management, Private Markets, and Private Wealth.
| Param | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| year | string | Curriculum year (2025 or 2026) |
| levelrequired | string | CFA exam level: I, II, or III |
{
"type": "object",
"fields": {
"year": "string - curriculum year",
"level": "string - CFA level requested",
"topics": "array of Topic objects with modules and LOS",
"total_los": "integer - total number of Learning Outcome Statements",
"total_topics": "integer - number of topics",
"total_modules": "integer - total number of modules across all topics",
"action_verbs_used": "array of strings - unique action verbs found in LOS"
},
"sample": {
"data": {
"year": "2026",
"level": "I",
"topics": [
{
"modules": [
{
"los_count": 5,
"module_name": "Rates and Returns",
"learning_outcome_statements": [
"interpret interest rates as required rates of return..."
]
}
],
"pathway": null,
"total_los": 38,
"topic_name": "Quantitative Methods",
"module_count": 11
}
],
"total_los": 365,
"total_topics": 10,
"total_modules": 93,
"action_verbs_used": [
"analyze",
"calculate",
"compare"
]
},
"status": "success"
}
}About the CFA Institute API
What the API covers
The API surfaces the official CFA Program curriculum for Levels I, II, and III. Each level is organized into topics, which contain modules, which contain individual Learning Outcome Statements. Level III includes three distinct pathways — Portfolio Management, Private Wealth, and Private Markets — so LOS response objects include a pathway field to distinguish them. The get_curriculum endpoint accepts a level parameter (I, II, or III) and an optional year parameter (2025 or 2026), and returns the full nested structure along with aggregate counts: total_topics, total_modules, total_los, and the array action_verbs_used listing unique verbs like "explain", "calculate", or "describe" found across all LOS in that level.
Topic overviews and LOS search
If you only need high-level topic data, get_topics_overview returns topic names, session numbers, and exam weight percentage ranges for a given level without the full module and LOS detail. This is the lighter-weight option when you're building a study planner that just needs to weight topic coverage. For deeper queries, search_los accepts a query string and performs case-insensitive substring matching against the full text of every LOS. You can optionally filter by level; omitting it searches all three levels simultaneously. Each match in the matches array includes the level, pathway, topic, module, the full los text, and the extracted action_verb.
Response shape and data fidelity
Response fields are consistent across endpoints. Topic objects include names and associated modules; module objects nest their LOS arrays. The action_verbs_used field in get_curriculum gives a quick fingerprint of the cognitive complexity distribution across a level — useful when comparing how Level I (heavy on "describe" and "explain") differs from Level III (more "evaluate" and "recommend"). Year coverage is currently limited to 2025 and 2026 curricula.
The CFA Institute API is a managed, monitored endpoint for cfainstitute.org — not a raw scraper you maintain. Every endpoint is automatically health-checked on a schedule, and when cfainstitute.org changes and a check fails, the API is automatically queued for repair and re-verified. It is built to keep working as the site underneath it changes.
This isn't an official cfainstitute.org API — it's an independent, maintained REST wrapper over public data. Where the source has no official API (or only a limited one), Parse gives you a stable contract over a source that never promised one, and keeps it current. Need a new endpoint or field? You can revise it yourself in plain English and the agent rebuilds it against the live site in minutes — contributing the change back to the shared API is free.
Will this API break when the source site changes?+
Is this an official API from the source site?+
Can I fix or extend this API myself if I need a new endpoint or field?+
What happens if I call an endpoint that has an issue?+
- Build a CFA flashcard app seeded with real LOS text and action verbs from
get_curriculum - Generate a topic-weighted study schedule using exam weight percentages from
get_topics_overview - Search for all LOS mentioning 'duration' across Levels I, II, and III using
search_losto map concept progression - Compare the distribution of action verbs (calculate vs. evaluate) between Level I and Level II to calibrate question difficulty
- Extract Level III pathway-specific LOS to build separate study tracks for Portfolio Management vs. Private Wealth candidates
- Audit curriculum changes between 2025 and 2026 by diffing
get_curriculumresponses across both year values - Populate a course mapping tool that aligns internal training modules to official CFA LOS by keyword
| Tier | Price | Credits/month | Rate limit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0/mo | 100 | 5 req/min |
| Hobby | $30/mo | 1,000 | 20 req/min |
| Developer | $100/mo | 5,000 | 100 req/min |
One credit = one API call regardless of which marketplace API you call. Exceeding the rate limit returns a 429 response. Authenticate with the X-API-Key header.
Does CFA Institute provide an official developer API for curriculum data?+
What does `get_curriculum` return for Level III compared to Levels I and II?+
pathway field identifying whether the content belongs to the Portfolio Management, Private Wealth, or Private Markets pathway. Levels I and II are not split by pathway, so that field is not relevant for those responses.Does `search_los` support filtering by action verb or topic, not just keyword?+
search_los endpoint currently supports filtering by level and year, with keyword matching against the full LOS text. It does not accept dedicated filters for action_verb or topic. You can fork the API on Parse and revise it to add those filter parameters.Does the API cover historical curriculum years beyond 2025 and 2026?+
year parameter. Earlier editions are not covered. You can fork the API on Parse and revise it to add support for additional historical curriculum years if the source material is accessible.